Things were all abuzz over Rockefeller Park in Battery Park City last Wednesday evening as Laurie Anderson performed her new “The Language of the Future” at the River to River Festival. The performance artist released a small fleet of remote-controlled, camera-equipped drones into the air, which hovered over the audience during her mostly politically read more here »

A major movie buff, Ed Koch immensely enjoyed writing his “Koch on Film” column for The Villager. Although he stopped writing for the paper in recent years, he continued to send his film reviews to his e-mail list. His columns sometimes featured political commentary and observations on the theaters themselves or the audiences. Below are read more here »

Aron Kay, the “Yippie Pie Man,” offered Ed Koch a marijuana joint at a book party at Elaine’s in 1979, to which an annoyed Koch responded, “Why do you always have to be so obnoxious, Aron?” Kay, recalling the incident, which was covered by High Times, told The Villager, “Koch shows up and Dana [Beal] read more here »

BY PAUL DERIENZO | David Peel, the inveterate street rocker and Village stalwart, is a familiar face at Occupy Wall Street protests and Tompkins Square riot memorial concerts and at the Yippie Cafe on Bleecker St. His albums still sell and some are collector’s items. His unmistakable voice and simple but catchy melodies have been read more here »

The Sept. 2, 1971, issue of The Villager (10 cents) reported that The Committee to Make New York City a State was out in full force over the weekend, trying to collect 45,000 signatures needed to put the statehood issue on the ballot in November. On The Villager’s press day, Bob Tendler, head of the read more here »

The front page of the July 30, 1942, issue of The Villager featured several articles relating to World War II. One, “Organize Village Salvage Corps,” discussed a new group that was rounding up “Vital to Victory” materials “for immediate diversion into the channels of war industry…scrap metal, rubber, rags [and] every useful material including newspaper.” read more here »

BY LORENZO LIGATO | Forty-one years ago, a shooting at Columbus Circle stunned the area’s Italian-American community. The lead headline on the front page of The Villager’s July 1, 1971, issue declared, “South Village Numbed Over Colombo; Gunman Lived Here.” Joe Colombo — the godfather of the Colombo Mafia crime family — was gunned down read more here »

[media-credit name=”File Photo” align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit] In a total bummer, man, for live-music fans, the July 1, 1971, issue of The Villager reported that Bill Graham was shutting down his renowned Fillmore East. The article’s punctuation-challenged headline, “Graham Closes Fillmore East, He Blames ‘Corporations’ ” made it clear how the rock impresario felt about things. A read more here »

BY ERIC FERRARA | A lawsuit filed on behalf of neighbors to prevent the demolition of No. 1 St. Mark’s Place was presided over by a Superior Court judge, ending a two-year rift that pitted independent landowners against a corporate behemoth — all over 8-feet of land. Another battle for the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation? Not read more here »